Not So Cruel Christians

Megachurch Woes

Hi, my name is Marshall. During my youth, I grew up attending megachurches and that has forever marked me in ways I never would have imagined as an adult. Not only did I attend megachurches, I participated very seriously in them. I volunteered on the production team. I led multiple small groups for middle and high school students. My first job after college was working at a megachurch on the communications team (honestly it was more of a christian conglomerate, but that’s beside the point). I had plans to attend seminary, and dedicate my life to the cause of spreading the good news of Jesus.

But then it struck me hard. The reality of organized, institutionalized Christianity in America.

A form of Christianity that has clearly divulged into a mere business model instead of a simple message of healing hope. Churches look like C-Corps, optimizing for growth and donations, instead of hospitals or neighborhood third places for gathering. Churches I was a part of started to feel more like they were playing a numbers game like there was a growth chart that needed to be hacked.

“Bring your friends,” I heard a lot. Gatherings were considered “events” and were planned for, high cost, and high stakes instead of a greater focus on organic community formation and vitality. How many people attending those events was something to be concerned about, where butts in seats was seemingly an important core metric in the top of funnel for the business model to work. Emphasis placed on new books being launched, new music coming out, and merchandise for sale. The “brand” must be protected at all costs. The notion of more, bigger, and better than last year being a driving vision. We’re making Jesus famous so it can’t be all that bad.

I was contributing to the growth of these megachurches. In some way, I comfort myself that I was contributing to people hearing about Jesus too. But looking back now, I’m not exactly sure what version of the message of Jesus people were actually getting in these spaces. Was it Jesus’ message to sell all your possessions and give it to the poor, or something else? These megachurches seemed to only want more social status, power, and wealth. Was I was just driving growth for growth sake? Was that the true message of Jesus and was I starting to go crazy?

It’s more clear to me now than ever.

Jesus’ message is good news and it’s especially good news to the poor. In my privileged social standing, and in my wealth, I had completely missed it. I had the facade or feeling about the good news of Jesus, but I had missed the heart of Jesus entirely.

Reconstruction

It has been an an extremely long and painful experience over the last 8 years shedding myself of the religious residue I picked up from being in those megachurch spaces. What I once knew as a very comfortable Christianity. Where I once thrived. What was comfortable, asked nothing from me, and what benefited me. I thought I was good at being a Christian and looked to others to validate me in that.

Looking back this was silly, and was not worth it. Thinking about where I came from has me shaken to the core, but in a good way. I would rather lose everything I have than to cling onto an inauthentic version of Jesus that will fade away as quickly as empires come and go.

I still consider myself a Christian, and I find myself a member of a church belonging to the Churches for the Sake of Others, an Anglican diocese, which has been so life-giving to my spirit. But more than labels or church tradition/affiliation, I consider myself to be a participant in the way of Jesus and a witness to Jesus’ love; the embodiment of God’s love in the person of Jesus in the world.

Christian Love, or Hate?

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “There’s no hate like Christian love,” and there is truthfully a weight of raw honesty in that saying. I’ve talked with too many people who have been on the receiving end of cruelty instead of kindness coming from a Christian who claims the name of Jesus, the name of Love.

It feels disheartening writing this, honestly. This is a really big problem. Not because the messaging or marketing positioning of Jesus has gone awry, but because it has become true. The very people who Christians are trying to be winsome in their love are seeing the opposite.

The loudest Christians in the United States have been brought up with cruelty in their hearts and left to fester, has ultimately manifested in hurtful actions towards people God loves.

To say it a different way, the loudest Christians in the United States have largely traded the beautiful humility of the cross of Jesus for insatiable allegiance to prospect of unparalleled militant power. The beaten and bloody Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, traded for the premise of a finite empire with a cruel king wearing a crown of gold. The eternal king Jesus who lords over His people with love and grace, traded for a mortal king who lords over their people in cruelty, tyranny, and unreserved submission.

A rising number of the general population see Jesus not as the tangible embodiment of Love, but of cruelty and retribution due to this group of loud Christians. While hoarding a message of love for themselves, their actions are quite the opposite and antithesis to Jesus’ message. If this isn’t taking the name of God in vain I’m not sure what is.

The Arc is Bending

Quoting the abolitionist minister Theodore Parker from a sermon in 1853, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paraphrased declaring, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.“

These are important words, and they are especially true for a Christian. In the story of God justice, mercy, and love will prevail.

It’s important to pause and draw a distinction between justice and cruelty, however. Justice and cruelty are not the same thing, although I see plenty of Christians making the mistake.

• Justice is about restoring broken relationships and making things right (shalom) rooted in God's character as perfectly equitable and right. It’s about accountability, care for the vulnerable, and embodying God's love through mercy and truth, as seen in Jesus' life and sacrifice.
• Cruelty is about punishment, and a callous indifference to or pleasure in causing pain and suffering.

The cruelty we see in the story of God is committed by the hands of those who crucified Jesus. If you are cruel and wearing the very cross that killed Jesus, you’re among the crowd cheering it on, not celebrating the promised new life the cross represents. Meanwhile, the good news and message of Jesus is that we don’t have a God of cruelty, but rather a God of justice, mercy, and love.

A Call to Love

With all that being said, I am writing this today not to go on about Christians who are the loudest in their hate, but to declare a voice rising from Christians who wish to see justice, mercy, and love prevail in our days.

There are Christians who are taking Jesus’ call to love seriously, who live their lives being transformed into a reflection of the Jesus who came to be the embodiment of love.

There are Christians standing in the gap for the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the prisoner, the hungry, the broken in spirit, and the mourning. Christians who see the good news about Jesus as good news for the poor.

Not all Christians are cruel; the one’s who truly know Jesus aren’t, anyways.

There are Christians who don’t suck. We are eternally, persistently, and unwaveringly standing in the gap with marginalized communities, and you, in the presently challenging times.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Show us your love, mercy, and justice.

May we all be transformed under your rule into the call to love.